Dad knew opportunities shower doors could open

Bill, Keith and Doug Daubmann outside their Naples showroom. COURTESY PHOTO Keith and Doug Daubmann knew from a young age that they would someday be running their family’s Mr. ShowerDoor business. But Bill Daubmann didn’t want to just hand over the reins to his sons until they fully appreciated the company he and his wife, Donna, had built.

Though he welcomed the extra set of hands after school and during summers, Bill encouraged his boys to get jobs elsewhere as soon as they were of age. “He knew I wasn’t ready to fully appreciate what I had available to me,” says Keith. “He knew I would appreciate it more if I worked for someone else first.”

And that’s just what the boys did. Keith went to work at the largest food wholesaler in the United States and Doug became a car salesman. “It’s amazing how we both migrated back to him,” says Doug.

With the boys completely on board, Bill and Donna started thinking about taking some time for them. A winter home in Florida seemed like the best way to do that, but when the boys accompanied them on a visit to the Gulf coast, plans quickly changed.

“We asked if we could all move here,” Keith says. In fact, the boys encouraged Bill and Donna to sell their Mr. ShowerDoor locations in Massachusetts and Connecticut, sell their home, and retire in Southwest Florida.

The boys, meanwhile, had their own visions of reinventing their parents business in paradise. In September 2003, Keith, then 25, and Doug, then 22, opened up their first Mr. ShowerDoor of Florida in Naples, using the same business model their dad had created up north. Though retired, Bill retained a presence helping his sons with marketing and financials, a role he still maintains today.

Business in Naples flourished with Doug focusing on his specialty, sales, and Keith committed to quality installation. “We are two totally different people,” says Doug. “But we know our boundaries and we know our expertise.”

As their reputation grew, and work requests came in from up and down the coast, the brothers opened additional showrooms in Fort Myers and Sarasota to meet the need. Today they employ 19 people full time and their growth continues with the opening this past January of a 12,000-square-foot corporate facility on Alico Road. Despite the down economy, the Daubmann brothers are investing in the area and thus positioning themselves to be here for the long term. “So long as people keep showering, we’ll keep growing,” chuckles Keith.

It’s important to the brothers that customers know Mr. ShowerDoor is not just a temporary enterprise. In addition to the business, both have homes here, actually just within a mile or so of one another, and they are raising their families here, too. Keith and his wife have two children, a 2-year-old and a 1-yearold; and Doug and his wife have a child who’s about to turn 1.

“We are always striving to work harder and to do more,” Keith says. That means not only opening more facilities, but also looking for new and better products, and even producing some of their own products, a tactic that sets Mr. Shower- Door apart from its competitors. Whatever they are doing is working, because they were just awarded the U.S. Small Business Administration South Florida District’s 2010 Jeffrey H. Butland Family Owned Small Business of the Year Award, acknowledging the family’s efforts and achievements in sustaining a successful business over two generations as well as for creating jobs and contributing to the community.

Awards are certainly nice, but what gives the Daubmann brothers great satisfaction is transforming a homeowner’s bath by removing an old framed shower and replacing it with a heavy glass, frameless model. The company also occasionally services larger clients, including the Golden Door Spa at Naples Grande, Hyatt Place in Sarasota, and the Naples Beach Hotel, which just renovated its 300 rooms.

Though Keith admits to talking business with his brother 24-7, they do make an effort to put business aside and simply enjoy life whether it’s spent boating on the gulf with mom, dad, their wives and children, or challenging one another to a golf game.

“We are very competitive when it comes to golf,” laughs Keith, who says his dad’s the best player, then him, then Doug. Not surprisingly, Doug sees it a bit different. With a laugh, he says he’s the best.

No matter what the story is out on the golf course, the real story is these two know all there is to know about shower doors. 